Hope For Life
by NotMyBestSide
Summary: This is an alternate ending to Of Mice and Men; there is a not-morbidly-depressing ending. Read and review...


**So in class one time we read "Of Mice and Men." One of the assignments that we got after we finished the book was to write an alternative ending….since I am kind of bored I decided I would just put it on FanFiction. **

**This is pretty much just Chapter 6 rewritten, okay? Oh, and Lennie doesn't die because I didn't like that and it made me all sad and depressed. And I hate finished books and feeling horrible. Like with "My Sisters Keeper," that ending sucked….well it didn't suck it was just really sad (sorry to all the people who haven't read that book). One question: do people even read these things? Because I do sometimes if I feel like it and I was wondering if other people do….**

**Disclaimer: I am a female. John Steinbeck is a male. I am not male so I can't be John Steinbeck (I am not implying that all males are John Steinbeck…) and John Steinbeck owns all rights to Of Mice of Men. So I don't.**

Lennie knew that he was getting himself worked up over nothing. George would come for him—George always came for him. He had done the right thing, coming to the lake. Lennie wondered if George would be mad at him, he had never done something this bad before. Lennie had never killed anyone. The fact that he had killed a human being dawned on him and he was overcome with guilt. It hadn't been her fault; he just wanted to feel her hair. Her screaming was what had scared Lennie though; it reminded him of the girl in Weed. "You idiot," George had yelled at him after he had touched the girls dress, "you could have gotten killed! You coulda gotten me killed! You wouldn't want to do that, now would ya?" Lennie didn't want George to be dead and he had told him that. George was the only thing close to family that Lennie had—George had saved Lennie's life. Lennie would always owe George for that and Lennie knew that he would never forget.

"I should go," Lennie thought to himself, "Go far away. Keep George safe. Do the right thing." Lennie was almost in tears as he said the last part, "Go away and never ever eat ketchup." Lennie repeated the chant as he got up and as he walked toward the edge of the lake. He mumbled the chant as he knelt down by the water and splashed some on his face before taking a big gulp.

"Don't drink so much," a voice said from behind him, "You gonna get sick again. Throw up everywhere." Lennie hopped up quickly, he would recognize that voice anywhere. The only thing that kept him from shouting out "George!" was the look on George's face. "Lennie," George continued, "I can't stay for long. If they know I was here they'd skin me for sure. You need to go, away." A look of horror crossed Lennie's face as he realized what George was saying.

"You always said me and you would have each other. That it was all we needed." Lennie said. Even though seconds before Lennie had been plotting his escape coming from George it was like a blow to his chest.

"Lennie, I'll come find you, promise. I just gotta stay for a while so they don't think I helped kill her, so they don't come after me. You don't want me to get killed now, do ya?" George asked, with a certain amount of sadness in his voice.

"No, George. They kill you, I'd kill them." Lennie said with a look of protectiveness on his face, like a mama bear for her cubs.

"We don't want no more trouble. Okay, Lennie? No more killings," George said with a stern look on his face. A glowering Lennie nodded in reply. "You go now," George said giving Lennie a slight push on his back, "Go up to the mountains. I'll find you when it's safe. Go on, before they come." Lennie didn't manage a reply before a rustling sound came from the bushes and George whispered a harsh, "Hurry!"

Lennie almost made it to the edge of the clearing, but he didn't manage to escape. Curley raised his gun and said, "If you make to move I'll make you watch your friend George over there die, then I'll shoot you." Lennie froze his eyes frantic. Everyone was so focused on Curley and his shotgun that no one but Slim noticed Candy pull something out of his pocket. Candy's had shook as he pulled out Carlson's stolen Luger and pointed it at Curley. Everyone noticed though when the shot rang out. Curley crumpled to the ground and George leaped for the gun. With careful precision Slim walked over to Curley's body and placed two fingers underneath his neck. "He's dead."

"You bastard!" came Carlson's burst of outrage, "It was you who stole my gun! Then ya up and killed Curley. What where you thinking? He's the one who needs to die!" Carlson angrily pointed to where Lennie stood, huddled next to George. George had a fierce look on his face, like he would pounce on anyone who tried to hurt Lennie.

"Lennie is not going to die today," Slim said with confidence. "We'll bring him back to the ranch and that will be that."

"Won't he be locked up or hanged or somethin'?" Carlson asked, his face the perfect mix of confusion and outrage.

"He didn't do anything to harm that poor girl on purpose. She knew the danger of talkin' but she did it anyways. Being locked up ain' right for a person like Lennie." Carlson made no reply because the only things he could think of saying were things that would contradict Slim—and what Slim said was law.

"George?" Lennie loudly whispered.

"Huh?"

"What's gonna happen now?"

"I don' know, Lennie, I don' know."

"Well, are we gonna get a farm house and bunnies?"

"Sure we are," George said falling into the old routine of telling Lennie the dream of the farm house, their own American Dream.

"With bunnies right?"

"With bunnies."

The two men trudged back toward the farm behind the procession. George knew that things wouldn't be the same as they had been before, but with someone their beside him everything would be okay.

**Pretty please will you review? Because it will make my day. Don't you want to make my day? You should, because kindness is contagious (I am guessing…do you think it is?). I'm kind of rambling today…that's weird…oh, well. Smiles ;)**


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